A Promise
by rediegirl1
Summary: Bella finds her love dead and stone cold on a post war bloody field. Just a one shot of Bella and Edward in Civil War times.


Just an idea I had..what would happen if Edward was a solider in the Civil War?

Character ideas come from the amazing Stephanie Meyer and I own none of the characters..sadly...

With tired legs that felt like lead, she stopped running; She couldn't take another step through the wasteland of fresh blood and bodies. She needed desperately to breathe, but her lungs wouldn't allow the simple action. Even the scattered placement of the stone-faced men that lay around her feet couldn't stop her. She pressed on. Searching for him through this field of hot gun shells and abandoned weapons was her only priority now.

Canon fires quickly filled the small battlefield with deafening booms and bangs that lingered in the delicate ears of the young bride. She tried with all her might not to be sick at the sight of the thousands of blood laden men who were strewn in unsystematic patterns throughout the field. Men who had jobs and loving families, were now but empty skins of who they used to be. Silent moans and pleas for death made a buzzing sound in the thick air which was almost comforting to her as she anxiously continued to search.

The growing nausea from the hell-like scene around her finally was relinquished when her foot lightly bumped into a figure below her, and she slowly looked down; seeing the blood stained face of who she had been searching for.

Her heart quickly skipped a few startled beats as she fell heavily onto her knees, feeling his blood that covered the earth, soak through her many layers of petticoats. His once masculine features were now painted over with a thick layer of crimson blood. His perfect emerald eyes were washed over with a hazy fog as they started intently into the sky.

Her eyelashes soon became wet and then abruptly, her tears silently leaked out from her eyes falling softly and slowly down her pale face. With a movement so gentle and innocent, she carefully reached a small, shaking hand out toward his and grabbed it with the intention of never letting it go. His hand was rougher than sandpaper as she caressed her thumb back and forth across his palm.

His touch had always given her a feeling of warmth, reassurance, and knowing that he really loved her whenever their hands meant. The warmth was gone. Left in its place was a chilling cold that seemed to linger heavily on her own skin.

The painful need to be closer to him consumed her. It had only been three days before this that he left her with a kiss and a promise, saying that he would protect her no matter what happened. The day he would have come home, she wanted to jump freely into his built arms and kiss him with the utmost passion and adoration.

But now none of this could ever be. She knew that she could never leap into his awaiting arms again and twirl around and around till the room spun. But she had to touch him. She needed to be in his embrace once more. She didn't care if any soul alive was watching her. With sloth-like movements, she took her legs out from under her grief filled body and crawled along the ground so that she was facing his stone-like chest.

Using all her strength, she pushed her thin arms under his broad back and hoisted him up onto her chest. Ever so carefully, so placed her arms round his upper body and pulled him to her bosom with the same gentleness as holding a baby.

Crushing the lifeless body to hers, she began to wordlessly rock him. His legs were laid across her own as she pulled him up so she could look around them once more, now that she held in her arms her reason for her searching.

She was finally able to comprehend the massacre around them. The ground was littered with bodies of the young men who had fought their hearts out, but were then suddenly killed by streams of never-ending gun fires. Many of the bodies were being drained of their hot blood as quickly as if it was water rushing out of a faucet. A blanket of dull gray covered every inch if the sky, while thick clouds of black canon smoke still hung low in the air. The iron stench of the blood-drenched earth suddenly filled her nostrils; the feeling of death was incredibly powerful around her.

She looked down into his blank eyes and a fresh river of tears gushed uncontrollably from her own. Her rocking soon subsided and she gazed into the glazed-over eyes of her love once more. She locked her stare with where his had stopped, with the intention of never looking away. Unexpectedly, she felt an involuntary pull bringing her down closer to his statue-like face.

His eyes turned to liquid emerald and that warmth was back. His protective sense that had once been with her had returned and she knew that he would keep his promise. As quickly as the action came, it left. He was the empty body once again. But because of that moment, she now understood what he meant when he said that he would always protect her no matter what.

She leaned down to press her fiery lips to his icy ones and pulled back looking into his eyes once more with a smile playing at her lips. Taking her first two fingers, she slowly lifted her right arm and placed her fingertips to his purple eyelids, pulling them down to cover a gaze that would be forever hers, and finally putting them both at an everlasting peace.


End file.
